Francis Boggs

Francis W. Boggs (March 1870 – October 27, 1911) was a stage actor and pioneer silent film director. He was one of the first to direct a film in Hollywood. He was born in Santa Rosa, California to George W. Boggs and Alabama McMeans. While in his teens he began acting with the Alcazar stock company in San Francisco and toured the American southwest. In 1900, he moved to Los Angeles but in 1902 went to Chicago where he continued to work in theatre... more

Francis W. Boggs (March 1870 – October 27, 1911) was a stage actor and pioneer silent film director. He was one of the first to direct a film in Hollywood. He was born in Santa Rosa, California to George W. Boggs and Alabama McMeans. While in his teens he began acting with the Alcazar stock company in San Francisco and toured the American southwest. In 1900, he moved to Los Angeles but in 1902 went to Chicago where he continued to work in theatre. There, he met William Selig and in 1907 Boggs became involved with the making of motion pictures at Selig's Polyscope studios in Chicago. With cameraman and jack of all trades, Thomas Persons, Boggs made one of his earliest films, Monte Cristo. He completed the interior shots at the Chicago studio but shot the scenes of Edmond Dantès emerging from the sea at the beach near Los Angeles. In Chicago in 1908 he made Fairylogues and Radio-Plays which had its writer, L. Frank Baum present a slide show and films as a live travelogue presentation of... less